WRIST/PALM SUPPORTS

Wrist Rest Quick Tips

• Use a wrist rest to maintain straight wrist postures and to minimize contact stress during typing and mousing tasks.

Proper arrangement of the keyboard and mouse help create a comfortable and productive workstation. Wrist or palm rests can also increase your comfort.  Although opinions vary regarding the use of wrist/palm supports, proper use has been shown to reduce muscle activity and to facilitate neutral wrist angles. 

Design and Use

Potential Hazards

• Performing keying tasks without a wrist rest may increase the angle to which users' wrists are bent. Increasing the angle of bend increases the contact stress and irritation on tendons and tendon sheathes. This is especially true with high repetition or prolonged keying tasks. Keying without a wrist rest can also increase contact stress between the users wrist and hard or sharp workstation components.

• Resting the wrist/palm on a support while typing may inhibit motion of the wrist and could increase awkward wrist posture.

Possible Solutions

• Your hands should move freely and be elevated above the wrist/palm rest while typing. When resting, the pad should contact the heel or palm of your hand, not your wrist.

• If used, wrist/palm rests should be part of an ergonomically-coordinated computer workstation.

• Reduce bending of the wrists by adjusting other workstation components ( chair, desk, keyboard) so the wrist can maintain an in-line, neutral posture.

• Match the wrist support to the width, height, and slope of the front edge of the keyboard (keeping in mind that the goal is to keep wrist postures as straight as possible).

• Provide wrist/palm supports that are fairly soft and rounded to minimize pressure on the wrist. The support should be at least 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) deep.